Loco-Motion

Based off the 1981 Konami coin-op of the same name, Locomotion is
really an update of the old sliding tile puzzle but with a twist. Not
only do you have to slide the various track pieces around to keep the
train from running off the track (no Amtrak jokes please), but you also
have to go through all the stations to pick up passengers before they
riot. With a strict timer and tricky mazes, this simple task isn't
nearly as easy as it sounds. Oh did I forget to mention the runaway
crazy trains?

The Locomotion board is made up eight tiles, each with a different
section of track. Your goal is to arrange the tiles so that your
train stays on track and pick up all the passengers in the stations. While
this task wouldn't be too difficult if you had all the time in the world,
in Locomotion you only have a short amount of time before the passengers
start trouble. A few seconds before the timer is about to reach
zero a station will begin to flash and a warning alarm will sound. This
is your cue to "Make Trax" to that station ASAP! If the
timer reaches zero before you reach the station, one of two things can
happen. Either the passengers will blow up the station in a riot,
or they will construct a crazy train to get you. I guess these guys
mean business!

If a station is blown up in a riot you will lose the "Prefect
Clear" bonus, but suffer no other ill-effects (although you will
not be able to pass through that station again). However if the
passengers construct a crazy train, another train will be set on the tracks
under the control of the computer. These crazy trains can really
cause problems, so try and trap them on an unused section of track. If
during the course of the game you get caught in a loop (circling the same
section of tracks over and over again), a warning klaxon will sound. This
is your cue to get a move on and change course. If you ignore the
warning the passengers will construct a loop sweeper to come get you.
The loop sweeper appears as a star and will travel down the tracks
at lightning speed, so try not to let this happen.

Although finding a path through the maze of tracks may sound tricky
at first, it's really not all that bad. The 2600 version of Loco-Motion
features a "path finding" system of sorts which makes a tough
task much easier. As you chug along down the tracks, your train
will "shoot" out a little square which will travel down your
current path until it reaches a dead end. By watching where this
square goes, you can easily plan your path in advance. However watch
out for "Train Stops" which appear as barriers across the track.
These stops will blow up your train if you hit them

After getting beaten to the punch on the Intellivision
by Activision's Happy Trails (a similarly themed game starring a cowboy),
Mattel decided that they would make a 2600 version of Locomotion While
the Intellivision had no problems drawing the curved diagonal tracks of
the original arcade game, the 2600 wasn't quite up to the task. Unfortunately
the 2600 version looks blocky compared to its Intellivision counterpart.
The 2600 version also seems to be void of any addition eye candy
such as the smiley-faced passengers, station lights, and even color! Surely
the 2600 could have managed a few different tile colors? Thankfully,
no matter how ugly the graphics looked, the gameplay stayed intact. And
in the end, that's what's really important.

Although Locomotion was finished and in the quality assurance
process, it was canceled for unknown reasons. Strangely, even though
Mattel owned the console rights to Locomotion, Atari planned a version
for the 5200 and even produced a prototype box! Is it possible that
Mattel licensed the 2600 and 5200 system rights to Atari? The rom
file for this game exists, but has not been publicly distributed due to
copyright issues.